La Paz Baja Mexico

2008
WORLD BLUE WATER
INVITATIONAL
JULY 14-18
La Palapas, La Ventana, Baja, Mexico
Beautiful sunrises, friendly people, prefect weather, fabulous facilities,great food, professional pangueros just added to the worlds best bluewater diving.This year’s invitational was moved to summer to bring in a bigger and
different selection of pelagic fish. AND IT DID!! While other tournaments canceled or were blown out Baja was better then ever. La Palapas in La Ventana has truly proven itself as a reliable location for fish, weather, and facilities.
La Ventana is a small Mexican dirt road town about 30 minutes south of La Paz. Along this beautiful section of sandy beach coast you will find some of the best kite boarding in the world, a very cool shrimp hatchery,
camp grounds and small American style cottages / Palapas, like La Palapas. Tim and his crew at La Palapas are very experienced and look after your every need. This is our third year having La Palapas sponsor this World Blue Water Invitational and each year the food, service, facilities, and staff have just gotten better and better. This Invitational is set up to dive 2 days then one day off then dive 2 more days. On the day off there are lots of activities planned for the divers and family. Some choose to chill for the day, tour the local town or go shopping in La Paz. While most take advantage of the unique environment, we choose to drag teasers around for Marlin while others dove for large bottom fish, went goat hunting, pole fishing for Dorado or just spent the day with the family snorkeling and exploring beaches. They do it all at La Palapas and you wont be bored. The “wrecking crew” Healey Tarr&head dove on the days off for Pargo, the large dog snapper known for trashing everything you own. They landed many up to 53 lbs and lost lots of equipment doing it. Danny Raff and family went snorkeling, and caught Dorado along the way. Christian Baker went goat hunting on the Island of Cerralvo and got a nice one and lots of stories.

DAY#1
Started at sunrise with a 7 o’clock start. Conditions were glass calm for the first 3 days and the fish abundant. In all there were 22 beautiful pelagics landed on just the first day. Glen McGuire got a wahoo and a Dorado, Dennis Haussler a wahoo and AJ, John Perretti a 66 lb wahoo, GR Tar a wahoo, milk fish and a skip jack, and Mark Healey a yellow tail, AJ, rooster and a skip jack. Mark wound up well in the front of everyone with this 4 fish showing and was the guy to chase from then on.

DAY#2
Saw the same perfect conditions and Mike McGuire shooting 4 fish a AJ, Milk fish, toro, and a Bonita. James Hardesty shot the first and only yellow fin tuna and a Bonita. Anne Doherty got a nice Aj to add to her milk fish score from the day before. Chris wood picked out the smallest AJ out of a school at 24 lbs. This put Mike in first for the day, but Mark
got a nice toro and continued the over all lead.

DAY#3
It was another big fish day with 21 pelagics taken. Craig shot the smallest rooster fish from the school of 20+ that weighted in at 40 lbs. Seamus Callaghan stoned another AJ at 35 lbs. And Sean George got on the board with a 45 lb wahoo he stoned. Keith Love chased a 151 lb striped marlin “for what seemed like 20 minutes” until it turned enough for him to put a spine shot on it from behind with a RA 130cm rail gun with a single flopper. A second shot guaranteed he had the first marlin of the Invitational. Dennis Haussler miss fired straight down on a 55 lb
wahoo and landed it along with a skip jack and an AJ. The Healey Tarrhead boat kicked more ass with Mark landing a wahoo 55 lb, Aj, and Milk fish. GR Tarr got a rooster 42 lb and an AJ at 46lb to keep him in the hunt. Brian Head got an AJ at 25 lbs. And the honorable mention goes to Australia’s own Chris Wood who got schooled by 400 AJs and
picked the only fish that turned as he shot and missed.

DAY#4
The 4th and final day started a little slowly as we let a small squall pass through before starting. The day remained cloud covered which made it cooler and more comfortable. Leading the way into the final day was Mark closely followed by GR, Dennis and Mike. Past that there were 10 divers all with in 1 small fish of each other. It was down to the last day, the last dives and just one fish could change your ranking by 3-10 spots. As the boats pulled in and the fish were presented to the weigh table it was clear Mark was not going to be caught, he weighed in a 40lb wahoo,
24 lb milk fish and another yellow tail. This was only the 2nd yellowtail shot, he took both, diving near 100 ft in the cooler bottom water. GR got an 11 lb AJ and Dennis got a 21lb milk fish. This allowed Dennis to make up the 10 points he was behind GR, and it appeared there was a tie for 2nd place. Keith Love and Brock Kennedy also shot nice AJs and skip jacks respectively to move them up well in the standings. For the awards banquet we had a fabulous Mexican feast, free beer and prizes from a local beer distributor and awards from all the top spearo
vendors around the world. Hawaii’s own Mark Healey easily took first with 288 points which won him $3200. GR Tarr snuck by Dennis Haussler by .7 lbs on a 200 point scale, 199.9 to 199.2 and won 2nd place and $1300. Places 7-16 could have changed with no more then a single fish making it a very close meet for most of the competitors. Every competitor came home with great awards as the sponsors were verygenerous in supporting the meet this year.

Placing by points
Name # of fish points
Mark Healey 11 288.60
GR Tarr 7 199.90
Dennis Haussler 6 199.20
Mike McGuire 6 154.40
Keith Love 2 142.45
Craig Dockendorf 3 121.00
John Perretti 2 87.25
Seamus Callaghan 2 83.95
James Hardesty 5 83.35
Glen Mc Guire 2 73.10
Anne Doherty 2 45.95
Brian Head 2 45.25
Sean George 1 44.15
Peter Marley 2 42.85
(ME)Chris Wood 2 41.60
Brock Kennedy 2 40.00
Christian Baker 2 22.30
Bernie Finnerty 1 13.40
Danny Raff 1 5.25

Post Competition.
After leaving the post competition festivities early and a well earned sleep Mike, Jack and I had a casual breakfast and gathered our lunch before heading out in a panga to do some more casual spearing. We were looking for a reef that G.R Tarr had dubbed Jurasic Park due to the dinosaur sized Pargo that he said lived on it. G.R had found it a few days before but hadnt shot any fish off it, he said that the Pargo were huge and dumb. On the way there we got word that one of the guys in another boat had just shot a Marlin and was trying to land it so we headed over for a look and a few photos. It turned out to be a small Sailfish and was shot by a Colorado Guy Justin Fox, and rounded out his first week diving in salt water beautifuly. Seriously this guy had only ever dived in lakes and shot carp before this week.

We found the reef after an hour or so drifting up the back of Cerralvo Island. It tops out at about 65ft and drops onto sand at about 80ft on the East side, the West side drops into the Abyss. The Pargo were clearly visible from the surface, lazily swiming in and out of huge slots in the reef. G.R wasn’t kidding they were huge some were well over 100lb. We decided that the best thing to do was to burley them up to mid water to try and give us a chance to stop them making it back to their holes once shot. The only other way to get them is to lay outside and above the hole and try and stone them as they come out for a look. If they make it back to the hole its goodbye shaft and Pargo they are just about impossible to get out. We dropped a load of burley and had them mid water but they just went deep every time we dived on them so we reverted to plan "B". I dived on a couple of large ones and swam down to lie on a ledge above the slot they went into. After about 20 seconds or so one came out for a look and swam up the slot facing toward me then casually turned to swim back down into the slot. I picked a spot just behind his eye and fired hoping that he would be stoned. I was in luck and he never even moved just rolled over as the spear hit, I have seen them do this before only to wake up 3 seconds later and dive into a hole so I swam forward and grabbed the shaft then got a good gill hold and headed for the surface.

Jurassic Pargo

I neednt have worried about the Pargo waking up he was stoned but the shaft had only just penetrated the far side of his head with the flopper wedged in his skull. If you look closely in the photo you can see the shaft just protruding from his eye.

We then went over to where we had seen the bait ball previously to try and get a Torro for Jack but after over an hours diving we had no luck so we went looking for Pompano instead. We (Jack) spent the rest of the day swimming in the shallows around Cerralvo Island shooting Pompano and Mullet, I spent the rest of the day loading his gun and taking photos.

The biggest Pargo we shot was around 25kg I saw some twice that size but couldnt get close enough to try and shoot them, Im not too sure I would either they are an incredibly strong fish. We had a leisurly Panga ride back to the beach before cleaning our gear and taking fish pictures. Then after having a shower and cleaning ourselves up Tim took us out for dinner and drinks at a local restraunt. Tim had given his staff 2 days off after the competition ended, they deserved it they had worked really hard over the past week looking after 27 spearos from around the globe. Dinner was great and the setting perfect, we all enjoyed the sunset sitting back looking out over the Sea of Cortez dreaming of the fish we knew were just below the surface. As we rode back to our Casita on the roof of the bus ( Baja airconditioning) looking up at the stars Jack was already planning next years trip and we werent even on our way home yet.

have just returned from Mexico where I competed in the 2009 La Paz World cup and figured I would give you all the details.
For those that dont know I have competed in this event for the last 3 years and this year placed the best so far. The rules are simple, Pelagic fish only, no more than 5 fish a day, only 1 fish per species per day, only 2 per species for the whole comp. Well thats the basics there are a few more technicalities but that gives you the general idea. The comp is held over 5 days, 4 days diving with a rest day in the middle. This year I took my son Jack as the comp was held over school holidays.
We flew from Perth to Tokyo then on to Los Angeles, we stayed 2 nights in LA then few to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. We were met at the airport by Chris Chaput ( Seasniper.com ) a custom gun maker from the US with a couple of tatoos, Bernie Finnerty and Jim all of whom were also competing. From there it was an entertaining 2 hour drive to La Ventanna where we were staying.

When we arrived we unloaded our gear and set up in our rooms for the week, My buddy for the week and the past 2 years Mike Mcguire arrived about an hour later and we caught up on what had happened over the past year. We then moved all our dive gear to a tent and trailer on the beach where it would stay for the rest of the week. Over the next 2 days other guys would arrive from various places to make up the total of 27 competitors. Mike and I chose to scout for the 2 days prior to the comp.

We had a good look over the competition area and then spent some time shooting bottom fish like Pargo ( Dog Snapper ) and letting Jack shoot a few fish. Jack did realy well and shot Pompano, Mullet, Chub, and Bonito.
He was realy pissed off at me for stopping him from shooting a 30kg Wahoo until I showed him that his float line was wrapped around his leg. The wahoo was only 2ft off the end of his spear and not moving at all he was lined up and on the trigger when I grabbed him, it was a sitter of a shot and there was no way he could have missed but I had horrible visions of watching my gun, 9lt rob allen float and son dissapear into the depths.

With the scouting all over with it was on to the comp and the first day saw a reasonable tally of fish. The day dawned clear and calm as we had breakfast and collected our lunch before heading down the stairs to the beach to wait for out Pangas. When the Pangas arrived at 6:30am we loaded our gear in to them and waited eagerly for the 7:00am start time I finished the day in 5th place with a Wahoo and a Torro shot late in the afternoon after a fruitless morning. It seemed that the fish and prevailing current had moved overnight.

Day 2 was a copy of day 1 and I again finished the day in 5th place with a Wahoo and a small Amberjack. We found a bait ball that had Torro feeding on it and decided to check it out and Mike scored a nice Torro from it. There was also small Rooster fish and Cerro Mackerel amongst them. My Wahoo turned out to be the biggest fish of the comp so far and stayed that way until the last day when I lost that title to a Rooster fish.

The following day was a rest day and most guys were planning to dive but Mike and I decided not to. Having done so the previous years we have learned that it is best used as a day to recover and do a bit of tourist stuff.
We hired a driver/ tour guide and had a day in Todos Santos where we visited the famous Hotel California ( and yes that is a gum tree in the left side of the photo). We shopped for stuff to bring home in the stalls along the road and had lunch in a local Cantina. Jack came out of a "T"shirt shop with some rather interesting shirts that im not too sure his mother will ever get to see. " Im not a Gynacologist but I will have a look" is not the kind of shirt a 12 year old should be seen in. Needless to say I dont think the shop owner could read English or knows what a Gynacologist is either. We also had a look through the Museum at some local cave paintings, Next year we may actually go and see them with a guide as they arent too far from where we were staying.

Day 3 of the comp saw us heading North to a spot called La Reina looking for a Wahoo for mike and Amberjack and Milkfish for both of us. We both managed an Amberjack and Mike got his Wahoo after some drama. He shot it and had it clipped off on the bungee while loading a second gun when it got off. It was spined and just quivering and he wanted a second shot to make sure. He was gutted when the bungee went limp and he hauled up his rig minus the wahoo. Then wey down deep we see a flash and the Wahoo comes into view still just quivering but coming toward the surface. Mike dived on it and swam hard to 70ft and put a second shot in it to claim it. Once he had it in his hands we could see that the first shot had spined it but the flopper had wedged in the bone and not penetrated the fish and the quivering had caused it to fall out.
We returned South and relocated the Baitball from day 2 where both of us shot another Torro. I shot another wahoo late in the afternoon but could not present it having already weighed in 2. The end of day 3 saw me move up into 3rd place as the list of available species got shorter.

The final day saw us again on the bait ball looking for Rooster fish to no avail. We then spent a couple of hours trying to get a Milkfish each, finally having success we again went looking for Roosters. This turned out to be fruitless so we decided to try and get Mike his second wahoo from a nearby FAD which turned out to be a good move. We then dropped in on a line of FADs on the way back to the beach looking for Dollies but lucked out there. Surprisingly there were fewer fish weighed in than previous days and I was hopeful of staying in 3rd place but had to wait for the final scores to be tallied. The final positions were announced at the presentation dinner later that night.

The final results were announced at dinner and had G.R Tarr as the winner, closley followed by Max ( I cant remember or pronounce his last name) from Brazil, 3rd place went to Mike Mcguire, I came in at 4th place.

G.R Tarr with the trophy.

Max From Brazil ( this old guy can dive!!!)

Mike Mcguire and Chris Chaput from Seasniper custom guns.

Jack and Me with 4th place prize, a Daryl Wong carbon fibre Hybrid with gold inlayed competition comemerative engraving.

Then after all the positions were announced and prizes recieved the festivities began. This included games such as Beer Apnea and Beer pong.
A local Band, free BEER from the sponsors Pacifico/corona and a host of other degenerative activities I will describe in later posts. Mike, Jack and I were diving again the next day so we stayed in control and went to bed at a respectable hour. And I have a heap of out of focus pics of the Pacifico chicks arse after Jack got loose with the camera and teamed up with some guys from Colorado. Stay tuned for more.

Finally after months of planning and countless Emails Everything is organized and I am counting down the days. I am off to La Paz again only this time to take part in the IBSRC 2007 Blue Water Meet.
The meet brings together some of the best Blue Water Spearfishers both male and female from around the world for a week of competition. There is no distinction between male and female compeditors as sex is not deemed a factor that can affect the outcome of the meet.
The rules are relatively simple with compeditors being able to weigh in only Pelagic Game fish from a predetermined list. But it dosent stop there with compeditors allowed only 5 fish each of a different species per day and only 2 fish of each species can be weighed in during the week.
Those fish must be nominated at the end of each day prior to the weigh in. Once a fish is weighed theres no going back and getting a bigger one, they are scored by weight at 1 point per pound up to a maximum of 100lb.
This makes for a very challenging competition and is just as much a matter of strategy as it is skill. This years meet is to be held at the village of La Ventana located about 1 hours drive Southeast of La Paz.
We will be staying at the Palapas Ventana overlooking Ceralvo Island and diving the surrounding waters.

One of the houses we will be staying in.

These waters are renowned for the size and number of gamefish they produce each year. Many of the current and past World Record fish came from this very location. With the Marlin capital of the World Cabo San Lucas a little further arround the coast we could not be in a better place for some great Pelagic action.